THE PHILIPPINES pledged to play a bigger role in promoting peace as it campaigns for a nonpermanent seat in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), Foreign Affairs Secretary Ma. Theresa P. Lazaro said at the UN General Assembly in New York on Sunday.
“We seek to be a part of it to advance the cause of global peace, with the depth of experience earned from our struggles for peace,” Ms. Lazaro said in a livestreamed address.
Manila is seeking a two-year term for 2027-2028, which will mark its fifth time on the council. Elections will be held in mid-2026, when five of the 10 nonpermanent seats are up for contest.
Earlier, the Department of Foreign Affairs said the Philippines would use the UN gathering to lobby support for its candidacy.
Ms. Lazaro said the country is prepared to consider the views of the broader UN membership and work with other principal organs if elected. “This is a challenge that the Philippines is ready to rise up to, as we seek a nonpermanent seat in the Security Council. We look ahead to the solemn honor of serving this body,” she said.
The UNSC is the UN’s most powerful body, with authority to issue binding resolutions on peace and security. Its five permanent members — China, France, Russia, the UK and the US — hold veto power, while 10 nonpermanent members are elected to two-year terms with full voting rights but without veto privileges.
Ms. Lazaro reiterated Manila’s commitment to diplomacy and the peaceful settlement of disputes, citing tensions in the South China Sea.
“There is no alternative to the United Nations. There is no good global order other than one based on international law and the principle of the sovereign equality of states,” she said. “A rules-based order is indispensable.”
She cited the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the 2016 arbitral ruling that voided China’s sweeping claims to the South China Sea as the legal basis of the Philippines’ position.
“While our government vessels and fisherfolk continue to be harassed in our own waters, and as we remain on the receiving end of illegal, coercive, aggressive and dangerous actions in the South China Sea, we abide by the UNCLOS as reinforced by the binding 2016 arbitral award,” she said.
China has refused to recognize the award and continues to assert control over areas within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, resulting in frequent confrontations at sea.
Beyond security issues, the Philippines also pressed for reforms in development financing, citing budget cuts tied to geopolitical conflicts.
“Amidst current funding shortfalls, we must support reforms to help it deliver value to UN member states, in tight accord with national priorities, with less bureaucracy and fragmentation,” Ms. Lazaro said.
She added that financing cuts limit resources that could have supported the sustainable development goals of developing and middle-income nations. — Adrian H. Halili
